IN A FOG
Men are very much alike in this respect: if one finds fortune or a path
that seems to lead that way, all who suspect it will try to crowd in.
The same instinct may be seen among a flock of fowl, only we do not
pursue so openly. And so, when news of the unexpected and early dividend
on Rockhaven stock circulated--as it was quick in doing--everybody on
the island who had a few dollars laid away made haste to seek Winn,
anxious to invest. The leaven worked as that shrewd swindler, Weston,
knew full well it would, and had Winn's suspicions not been aroused, and
he too honest to take advantage of these people, he might have sold five
thousand shares, and as the sequel proved, bankrupted the island. For
these hard-working people, though living in hovels and wearing clothing
a tramp would almost disdain, were frugal, and each and all had
something saved for a rainy day. The wisest had, from time to time, sent
their savings ashore by Captain Roby to deposit in a savings bank;
others kept a few dollars hid in bedticks or similarly secreted; but
now, solely because Jess Hutton, the oracle of the island, was known to
have invested in this stock and received such fabulous returns, all were
anxious to follow his lead. A little spice of envy crept in also at his
good luck, and Mrs. Moore, in chatting with a neighbor, voiced it.
"It's allus the way," she said plaintively, "when Jess bought that ledge
o' stun from Gad Baker an' gin him a hundred dollars for't, 'most
everybody thought he was a fool, and now 'long comes this city man and
gives him two thousand for't, an' on top o' that Jess buys some o' this
stock an' gets a hundred dollars profit fust go-off. Here I've been
cookin' an' washin', year in an' year out, an' jist keepin' soul 'n'
body together, an' the boys spendin' every cent they airned--not thet
I'm complainin' on them, only if I had five hundred laid away I might
put in as much as Jess did. It don't seem right, that it don't!
Howsoever, it's the way o' the world, an' them as has, gits."
Little did hard-working Widow Moore realize when Dame Fortune was good
to her!
But Winn was the most worried person on the island, and his burden the
heavier to bear since he dared not hint his suspicions to any one. To
all who came and almost begged him to take their savings in exchange for
stock he made only one reply, "We have no more to sell," and had there
been a stock exchange on the island, Rockhaven would have soared to
twenty dollars a share, so eager were those credulous people to invest.
Then another incident of life began to interest them, and, though Winn
knew it not, his attentions to Mona began to create gossip, more
especially as he was the actual and present representative of a rich
corporation. His walking to and from church with her, the hours he had
spent in her home, and more than these, the summer evening strolls up to
the old tide mill, to linger and watch the moonlight on the water, had
all been noticed and commented upon. For these people, albeit they
worked hard and lived poorly, intuitively knew where Cupid hid himself
and how and when he shot his arrows. It was all right, of course, and
though other less fortunate maids envied Mona, and many of the good
mothers voiced their congratulations to Mrs. Hutton, there was no
opposition to this summer idyl.
One thing Winn noticed, however, and that was the pertinent fact that
when he "dropped in" at Mona's home, as he so often did, her mother
usually found some excuse to absent herself and leave the young couple
alone. Had he been desirous of wooing this winsome maid nothing would
have pleased him better, but he hardly felt that way. It was true she
interested him, for what young man could resist her sweet and tender
ways, her patience with her mother's implacable dislike of her violin
playing and the beautiful soul her truthful eyes bespoke? Then the hours
with her in the romantic spot in which she had chosen to seek the
goddess of music were more than charming. In a way this trysting place
began to seem sacred to him, and the secret hours he had passed with her
there a tender bond between them. All these sweet motive forces that
move man's nature, like so many little hands, began to entwine
themselves in his. He had no thought of marrying. He realized that he
had yet to carve his way upward to independence before thinking of a
home and wife, and beyond that the lesson of distrust Ethel Sherman had
taught him still held sway. He was not a model of discretion; he was an
unthinking young man with the germs of fine honor and sturdy honesty
latent within him, and in spite of the cynicism he had imbibed from Jack
Nickerson he was sure in the end to commit no folly, nor wrong man,
woman, or child.
And yet, insensibly, he was doing Mona Hutton the greatest wrong in his
power--almost.
Some realizing sense of this came to him after that evening beside the
old tide mill, when his words had caused a single tear to fall upon the
hand that helped her to arise, and yet he could not tell what he had
said that hurt her so.
There is, perhaps, nothing so fascinating in this wide world to a young
man as the first signs of a sweet maid's budding love for him, and it
must be stated, nothing is harder to turn away from, and Winn was no
exception to young men in general. And now that he was conscious of it,
that fact, coupled with the business dilemma confronting him, created a
double burden. He saw whither he was drifting with her and seeing, had
not the heart to turn away. On the other hand, the Rockhaven Granite
Company began to seem a quagmire of fraud in which he and all who had
trusted in him might any day become entangled, their investments swept
away, the men he had hired left without pay, and he stranded on this
island. It may seem that Winn was borrowing needless worriment, and yet
once the canker spot of suspicion fastens itself upon a man's mind, it
grows until it turns all things green.
One thing he tried to do--avoid Mona. And yet he could not to any
extent, for since she dwelt next door he must needs meet her and speak
almost daily. And strange to say, now that it was in his heart to act
indifferent, her appealing eyes and winsome face began to seem a
reproach, and his conscience troubled him. For a week he passed each
evening alone in his room trying to read one of the books he had brought
with him, or else in Jess Hutton's store, listening to the gossip of the
men who gathered there, interspersed with an occasional bit of quaint
philosophy from the lips of Jess himself, and then a bombshell in the
way of a letter to him reached the island. It was as follows:--
"DEAR WINN,
"Have been back to the city now for two weeks and watching the
trend of the market. I was satisfied, as I wrote you, that
Weston & Hill were preparing to launch a skyrocket--now I know
it. What with printer's ink and that walking tombstone,
Simmons, they have managed to get Rockhaven among the unlisted
but active stocks, and by some chicanery, worked the price up
to six dollars. Page, my broker, says it's a wildcat of the
most pronounced stripe. A good many are short of it at below
its present price and yet it holds firm. I've unloaded half I
bought, so I am on Easy Street, and am watching out. It may go
up with a whoop or down with a thud. One guess is as good as
another, but what you best do is send me your stock and let
Page sell it. Also if you have sold any to your friends, give
them the tip. I know you believe in Weston and think, as you
have said, that I am a perpetual scoffer. They may be all
right, but I don't believe it, and now as you have a chance to
unload and make a good thing, better do it.
"Yours ever,
"JACK.
"P.S.--I forgot to mention that Ethel Sherman is still up in
the mountains and the belle of all occasions. She asked a lot
of questions about you and in such a way I was almost tempted
to believe they were sincere. She has failed to land the golf
dude, for his mother scented danger and, like a hen, led him
away to safety."